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///M3 Forum The BMW E46 ///M3 is the M version E46 and puts out an amazing 333 HP and 262 lb-ft of torque at stock specs! There are an amazing amount of modifications for both the coupe and convertible models so read up and get started modifying your cars today!

So I have decided to purchase RECARO SPORTSTER CS seats for my car.
I have tried searching for a detailed DIY of installing Race Seats in our E46 M3 cars, but only found partial DIY ones. I think this might be useful for some members who would want to do race seats in the future. This will be my first time to tackle this sort of project so I know that I may or may not have problems along the way. Stay tuned!

OCCUPANCY SENSOR AND AIRBAG SEAT SENSOR EXPLANATION:

Information that I have gathered from other forum members here that explained how things work. (Thanks guys!)

OPTION 1:
If you are like me and prefer to have new parts for peace of mind, You can buy The airbag seat sensor and occupancy sensor from ECS Tuning. I decided to do this since I did not want to salvage these 2 parts from my OEM passenger seat, lessen the chances of the old airbag and occupancy sensor failing since they are old already, and make sure that everything is right and safe. Only downside is that you have to spend about $210 for the two parts. Other than that, it will just work exactly as the OEM seat did. It will get rid of the Airbag light, recognize that there is weight in the passenger seat when occupied which will automatically turn the passenger airbag on, and off when the seat is unoccupied.

OPTION 2:
Another option is to extract the airbag seat sensor and occupancy sensor from your old OEM passenger seat and use them on your race seats. This is great because you basically do not have to spend anything. It might just be time consuming and you risk damaging the parts if you are not careful removing them. Just like option 1, this will work like the OEM seat that you previously had. It will get rid of the Airbag light, recognize that there is weight in the passenger seat when occupied which will automatically turn the passenger airbag on, and off when the seat is unoccupied.

OPTION 3:
Buy an occupancy seat sensor bypass from ebay or do the resistor mod. Both options are cheap and will cost you less the $20. What the bypass or the resistor mod does is that it emulates and recognizes that the passenger seat is occupied even though there is no one sitting on it. Therefore, turning your passenger airbag on all the time. Only problem with this is that if you get in a wreck, even if you do not have a passenger on the seat, the airbag in your passenger seat will still engage. Both driver and passenger airbags will deploy and instead of just replacing the driver side, now you need to replace the passenger airbag as well. Some people are okay with it so it is really up to you to decide. But there is really no guarantee if the airbags are on all the time unless you have a tool to scan and check them with.

small hiccup!!! I decided to have the seats re-upholstered to IMOLA RED Leather. I had the shipment re directed to the shop that will do the upholstery. I will be sending them my OEM headrest so that they can match the color of leather that they will use. They will work on it for a week and I figured another week to ship them to me. So this will be delayed a bit...